It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Songbird on the track, but the two time Eclipse Award winner is ready for a run in the 2017 Ogden Phipps Stakes. This will be her season debut and many are ready to see whether or not she’s recovered from suffering her first defeat ever in a thrilling 2016 Breeders’ Cup Distaff thriller against Beholder.

Earlier this week Santa Anita Park announced they were forced to cancel their June 8 card because of a lack of entries for the slate. Santa Anita and The Stronach Group stressed the importance of horses running on their tracks more often to avoid such cancellations in the future.

The Penn Mile (G2) was the headline event on a day of stakes Saturday, and the marquee event of the racing season at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. A preview of the $500,000 Race showed a competitive group in the nine horse field. But when the real racing began in mid-stretch, the two favorites burst from the group bunched mid-pack. Frostmourne launched down the lane on the lawn with a fierce turn of foot to capture the Penn Mile by 1 1/4 lengths in front of late-charging race favorite Big Score.

NBC has been the engine for the growth of American Thoroughbred racing. The incredibly managed coverage has been a mainstay in expanding interest in the American Classics, and was pivotal in building $212 million in action on the 2017 Kentucky Derby from all sources. The network is now planning expansion to cover the biggest track in Europe as it heads over the pond to broadcast a week-long meet out of Royal Ascot.

The Big Apple Showcase Card at Belmont Park featured six stakes worth a total of $900,000. The races are for New York-breds, and one Empire State stalwart in particular, Weekend Hideaway, made his presence felt in a big way by repeating as the victor in the $200,000 Commentator Stakes for the the second year in a row.

The last time we saw McCraken, he ran to an extremely disappointing eighth place in the Kentucky Derby but his performance may have been heavily influenced by an injury. Trainer Ian Wilkes has McCraken healing after a puncture wound was found in his left hind ankle after the derby.

Trainer Richard “Richie” Scherer, a mainstay in the Midwest and his native state of Louisiana, passed away at the age of 53 on May 20. Scherer had battled papillary kidney cancer for years prior to his death. The news of Richie’s passing came via his brother, Merrill Scherer, who also passed along his respects.

Cloud Computing Overtakes Classic Empire Late to win Preakness

Patience paid off for trainer Chad Brown and his lightly raced colt Saturday. Cloud Computing won the 142nd Preakness Stakes with a well-timed run by jockey Javier Castellano, blowing past Derby winner Always Dreaming at the top of the stretch and chasing down Classic Empire before collaring him in the final sixteenth and holding on to the wire.

Royal Mo recently had surgery to treat a fractured bone in his right-front leg. Though the surgery has been successful, the three-year-old colt has been retired from racing according to trainer John Shirreffs. It’s an unfortunate end to a career that was essentially just beginning.

A fateful meeting between D. Wayne Lukas, Antonio Sano and his son Alessandro, helped push the Sanos into running Gunnevera in the Preakness Stakes (G1). Former trainer Larry Kelly set the meet-up at Churchill Downs on May 12. Lukas has six Preakness Stakes wins on his resume and assured the Sanos they would be making the right call if they let him run.